Unfathomable & Immensurable
Date1990
MediumCollage on paper
DimensionsSheet: 10 1/2 × 7 3/4 inches (26.7 × 19.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson.
Object number2022.83
On View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright© 1990 Mario Petrirena.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextFrom December 1960 to October 1962, the largest exodus of unaccompanied minors occurred as Cuban parents feared the loss of their parental rights to the communist government. As one of the 14,000 unaccompanied children sent from Cuba to Miami in the context of the Pedro Pan Operation, Mario Petrirena’s artwork speaks to the hardships and uncertainties of his heritage, culture, and identity. Sent to the United States at the age of eight, Petrirena’s works on paper, such as Unfathomable & Immensurable delve into the uncertainties of his past and address the nuances of his cultural identity. Petrirena states, “My work is informed by my dual heritage. It is personal, autobiographical, often a mystery to me… I explore the complexities, the duality, the contradictions, the humor, the beauty and the fragments that are an ever-present part of my life. They are attempts to understand myself and how I fit into this world.”